MONSEY -- The road to Utica had to go through this downstate hamlet, and the twin-rink facility that scores of rally-towel waving fans of the Suffern Mounties turned into a madhouse Saturday.

The defending state champions, playing in their home arena, took the ice hell-bent on delivering a knockout punch to Saratoga Springs, and its hopes of a spot in next weekend's state Frozen Four.

But then, as the clock ticked down in a deadlocked third period, the underdogs broke through.

Tyler Bullard snapped a 2-2 tie with 11:35 to go, and the Blue Streaks held on to upset the top-ranked team in the state with a stunning 3-2 victory at Sport-O-Rama. They won their fourth straight regional title, a school record, and now advance to Saturday's state semifinal at Utica Memorial Auditorium, where a win will give them a shot to play for the state championship Sunday.

"A couple of us have been (to Utica) two or three times," said Bullard, one of 12 Saratoga seniors. "We love going there. We didn't want our season to end against the reigning state champs."

The Section II co-player of the year ensured it would not, finishing a play started by twin brothers Matt Flynn and Ryan Flynn, who each had three-point nights, by sweeping a backhander past Suffern goalie Nick Modica.

From there, the high-octane attack that scored the most goals in Section II was called off, as the Blue Streaks went to a defense-first strategy to keep the Mounties' shooters away from the net.

"It was the longest 11 minutes I've played," Ryan Flynn said. "We needed to go shift by shift. At that point, we were like 'All right, let's buckle down on defense. Let's do what we need to do.' We kind of stayed back on offense and really played well in our zone. That just really helped out a lot."

Goalie Dakota Smith, who saw his shutout streak snapped early in the first period, did not allow a goal in the final 38 minutes of play. His first taste of the state playoffs went almost as well as it possibly could have, and his teammates made a beeline toward him after the final horn sounded.

"I'm just speechless," said Smith, who is now 13-2 in goal for Saratoga. "It was a high-intensity game. A lot of shots got peppered at both goalies. Modica had a fabulous game. It just feels great."

The line of Drew Patterson, Matt Flynn and Ryan Flynn opened the game in supersonic fashion for the Blue Streaks, scoring two quick goals before three minutes had ticked off the game clock.

Matt Flynn fired a dart from below the right-wing circle just 74 seconds after puck drop, and his twin brother completed a three-on-two rush when he fired a shot past goalie Modica at 2:33.

"The first goal was obviously huge," said Patterson, who had the primary assist on both tallies. "To jump on them and get two - I think it was our first two shifts of the game - was obviously big."

But Suffern, which boasted its own high-powered attack, needed less than four minutes to tie it 2-2.

Dan Demarco capped a rush with a quick blast from the slot at 3:58, snapping Smith's shutout streak at the 162-minute mark. The Mounties worked the puck below the goal line before finding Nick Jaeger in front for the equalizer through traffic at 6:06, re-energizing their home crowd.

The Blue Streaks, though, did not panic. Even at the times when Suffern hemmed them in their own zone, limiting them to just four shots in the second period, they stuck to the system that has carried them to a 20-3-0-1 record this season, and now a fourth straight visit to Utica.

"We kept our mentality throughout the whole game," Smith said. "They got those two goals, which set us back a little bit, but that gave us the momentum to push forward more."

The Blue Streaks hope to carry some of that momentum through to Saturday's 2:30 p.m. showdown with Niagara-Wheatfield, which knocked off Ithaca earlier Saturday evening.

"We talked about making history, which we did," Saratoga Springs coach Dave Torres said. "Four regional championships in a row for Saratoga. No other Saratoga team has done it. These guys want to be a part of history, and they did. I'm real proud of them. And we're not done yet."

As they posed with their regional championship plaque on the Sport-O-Rama ice, their fan section in the background and their equipment strewn about the playing surface, the cameras happened to be below Suffern's 2012 state championship banner. After Saturday, the Blue Streaks are now two wins away from one of their own.

"We think this is the team that can do it," Bullard said. "We're battle tested. We work hard every day at practice. We still have a tough road, but so does everyone. No one has the easy road now."